Many local candidates win without opposition

Three Thibodaux City Council members and 15 area school board members were elected Friday when no one signed up to run against them.

Jacob BatteStaff Writer

Three Thibodaux City Council members and 15 area school board members were elected Friday when no one signed up to run against them. Thibodaux Mayor Tommy Eschete also will serve a second term after no other candidate stepped forward during the Wednesday through Friday qualifying period. Thibodaux Councilmen Gene Richard, District B, and Chip Badeaux and Chad Mire, both councilmen-at-large, were unopposed. The Nov. 4 ballot will include races for U.S. senator, U.S. representative for District 1 in the south parts of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes and District 6 in the northern portions, school boards, justices of the peace, constables, district judges, district attorneys, and Thibodaux City Council.Eleven of Lafourche Parish's 15 School Board seats are now filled. Newcomers Brooke Huddleston of District 2, Mary Breaud of District 5 and Ray Bernard of District 14 join eight incumbent winners — Louis Thibodaux of District 1, Marian Fertitta of District 4, Ronald Pere of District 8, Julie Breaux of District 9, Jean Chiasson of District 10, Joey Duplantis of District 11, Ann Sanamo of District 12 and Al Archer of District 13. Terrebonne Parish School Board members Gregory Harding of District 2, Dicky Jackson of District 3, Debit Benoit of District 4 and Don Duplantis of District 8 also won unopposed. Six Terrebonne justice of the peace districts have already been settled. Incumbents Yogi Naquin of District 1, Kenny Hamner of District 2, Cheryl Blanchard of District 4, Jerome Fabre of District 5, Johnny Eschete of District 7 and Junior Theriot of District 10 won unopposed. Juan Pickett joins incumbents George Larke Jr., John Walker, David Arceneaux and Randall Bethancourt as Terrebonne Parish's five district judges. In Lafourche, Chub Boudreaux will join incumbents John LeBlanc, Walter Lanier and Buddy Larose as district judges. Incumbents Mark Chiasson and Harley Gros will again serve as Thibodaux city judge and city marshal, respectively. Long-time Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant also won unopposed. In Terrebonne, six of the nine constable seats have been filled. Dale Theriot of District 10 joins incumbents David LeBoeuf of District 1, L.J. Schexnayder of District 2, Sonny Parfait of District 4, Daniel Trahan of District 7 and Lloyd Gibson of District 8. Lafourche District 3 Constable Dwain LeBeouf also won unopposed.At the federal level, Democrat Lee A. Dugas of Kenner and Libertarian Jeff Sanford of Baton Rouge joined Democrat Vinny Mendoza of Ponchatoula in challenging District 1 U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie. Scalise is seeking a second term. Tea Party-backed Republican Rob Maness of Madisonville signed up to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who is seeking a fourth term. Other candidates for the seat are U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, Republican small business owner Thomas Clements, of Lafayette, Libertarian Brannon Lee McMorris, of Denham Springs, and Democrats William Waymire Jr., of Gonzales, Vallian Senegal, of Opelousas, and Wayne Ables, of Breaux Bridge. Three more candidates joined the race to replace Cassidy, who represents District 6 in the House of Representatives. They are Republican Cassie Felder of Baton Rouge and Democrat Peter Williams of Lettsworth. They join 11 candidates who signed up Wednesday and Thursday: Republicans Bob Bell, Dan Claitore, Paul Dietzel II, Garrett Graves and Trey Thomas, all of Baton Rouge, Norm Clark, of Denham Springs, Craig McCulloch, of Baker, and state Rep. Lenar Whitney, of Houma; Democrats Edwin Edwards, of Baton Rouge, and Richard Lieberman, of LaPlace; and Libertarian Rufus Holt Craig, of Baton Rouge.To vote in the fall elections, residents must be registered by Oct. 3.Here's a list of local candidates who signed up for the Nov. 4 election. An (I) indicates an incumbent.